Chapter 3
THREE
POE
The room feels smaller than it should. Concrete walls pressing in, one sad overhead light buzzing like it might give up any second.
I lie on my back on the king bed, staring at the ceiling tiles that probably haven’t been cleaned since the building went up.
My body aches in that deep, bone-tired way that comes from too much adrenaline and not enough sleep.
Every muscle feels like it’s been wrung out and left to dry.
I should be thinking about escape routes. About the camera angles I spotted on the way in. About whether that keypad by the door has any weaknesses I could exploit with the junk in my pockets. Instead my brain keeps looping back to the same ugly shit.
Ozzy. Arrow. Knight. Gage. Render.
They probably hate me right now.
By morning the whole Maddox crew will know my name is tied to that hack.
They’ll see the breadcrumbs Goldenbell planted so neatly.
Ozzy will be pacing that safehouse, fists clenched, wondering how the guy who sat next to him eating cold pizza could sell them out.
Arrow will go quiet in that scary way of his, already running scenarios where I’m the mole.
Knight will crack his knuckles and mutter about putting a bullet in my skull if he ever sees me again.
Gage and Render? They’ll just look disappointed. That might be worse.
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to shove the thoughts away. They’re poison. If I let them in too deep I’ll freeze up, and freezing gets people killed. Enley needs me sharp. Not drowning in guilt.
The mattress dips a little as Orchid moves around the room.
She’s still fully dressed, holster snug against her ribs, like she expects me to sprout claws in my sleep.
I crack one eye open and watch her. She’s beautiful in this sharp, dangerous way that makes it hard to look away.
Dark hair still pulled tight, a few strands escaping like they’re trying to rebel.
Those eyes that seem to catalog every twitch I make.
Lips that could probably talk a man into walking off a cliff or into her bed, depending on the mood.
She’s lethal. And she knows it.
I wonder how many guys have underestimated her right before she put them on their fucking knees. I wonder if I could be the one who surprises her.
She said she sleeps light. Armed. But maybe if I wait until her breathing evens out, I could move fast. One hand over her mouth, pressure on the right nerve in her neck, take the gun before she wakes fully.
Then the door, the van, disappear into the city long enough to regroup.
Find a way to reach Enley without walking straight into another trap.
Except even if I get past Orchid, what then? I still don’t know where they’re holding my sister. Serafina’s people have her buried deep. One wrong move and that photo of Enley’s bruised face becomes the last thing I ever see of her. I can’t risk it. Not yet.
Serafina herself is the real ghost in all this.
I’ve chased her digital footprint for months and come up with smoke.
Now she’s somewhere in this building, pulling strings, and I’m supposed to dance while she decides whether Arthur Charles lives or dies.
Whether Enley lives or dies. Whether I live or die.
My chest feels tight, like someone parked a truck on it.
I shift on the bed, trying to get comfortable on my side of the mattress.
The sheets smell like industrial detergent, nothing personal.
Orchid finally sits down on the edge, back straight, like she’s ready to spring up at the first wrong sound.
She doesn’t look tired. She looks like she could do this all night and still win.
I keep my voice low so I don’t wake Arthur in the corner. “What happens next?”
She turns her head, studying me for a long second.
The corner of her mouth lifts, not quite a smile.
More like she finds me amusing in a pathetic sort of way.
She swings her legs up and settles against the headboard, close enough that I can feel the heat coming off her body but far enough that she can still reach her gun easily.
“You just need to obey me,” she says quietly. “Do what I tell you when I tell you. Answer every question. Keep your friends chasing shadows. And everything will be well.”
I almost laugh. It comes out as a tired huff instead. “You really believe that? Just click my heels three times and everything goes back to normal?”
Her eyes narrow slightly. “I believe in results. And right now the results depend on you staying in line.”
I stare at the ceiling again, tracing a water stain that looks vaguely like a middle finger. Obey. The word still feels like a collar tightening around my throat. I’ve spent years fighting people who think they can control the world with money and fear. Now I’m supposed to roll over for them?
“I don’t buy it,” I mutter. “Serafina doesn’t let people walk away clean. She collects leverage and she never lets go. Even if I play nice, what’s to stop her from deciding Enley’s more useful as an example than as a bargaining chip?”
Orchid doesn’t answer right away. She shifts, the mattress dipping again, and I feel her looking at me. Really looking. Like she’s trying to decide if I’m worth the trouble or just another broken toy she’ll have to discard later.
“Serafina rewards loyalty,” she says finally. Her voice is softer than before, but I don’t trust the gentleness. “You deliver what she needs, she delivers what you need. Simple transaction.”
“Nothing about this is simple.” I turn my head so I can see her face. She’s close now. Close enough that I notice the tiny scar just above her left eyebrow. Close enough that I catch the faint scent of something clean and expensive on her skin. “You know that. You’re not stupid.”
Her lips press together. For a second I think she might snap at me, but she just exhales through her nose. “No. I’m not stupid. Which is why I’m telling you to stop fighting the current and start swimming with it. You fight me, you make this harder on everyone. Especially your sister.”
The mention of Enley lands like a punch I can’t block. I close my eyes again, trying to push away the image of that photo. The bruise. The tears. The way her voice sounded so small on the phone.
“I’m tired,” I admit. It slips out before I can stop it. Not just physically tired. The kind of tired that settles in your bones after months of looking over your shoulder. “Tired of watching people I care about get hurt because of shit that has nothing to do with them.”
Orchid is quiet for a long moment. When she speaks again her voice is lower, almost careful. “Then make it stop. Obey. Give Serafina what she wants. Your friends will survive. Your sister will survive. You might even survive.”
I want to believe her. Part of me, the exhausted, desperate part, wants to nod and say fine, tell me what to do and I’ll do it. But the rest of me knows better. Goldenbell doesn’t do clean endings. They do body bags and burned bridges.
I roll onto my side, facing away from her, staring at the gray wall. The bed is big enough that we’re not touching, but I can still feel her presence like static electricity. Beautiful. Dangerous. The kind of complication I don’t need right now.
She doesn’t lie down. She stays sitting up, back against the headboard, probably watching me. Waiting for me to try something stupid.
I don’t. Not tonight. My body is too heavy, my mind too loud with worries about Ozzy and the others. About what they must be saying right now. About whether Render is already digging through my old code looking for proof I betrayed them.
“Get some sleep, Poe,” Orchid says softly. It almost sounds like an order wrapped in concern. “Tomorrow will be long.”
I don’t answer. I just breathe slow and steady, pretending I’m already drifting off. Inside, my brain keeps spinning. Plans. Half-formed escape ideas. Ways to turn this around before it’s too late.
But right now, with the lights low and Orchid’s quiet breathing beside me, all I can do is lie here and wonder how the hell I’m going to save my sister without losing everything else.
And whether the woman watching over me is the key to getting out… or the lock that’s going to keep me trapped until Serafina decides I’m no longer useful.
The thought follows me down into uneasy sleep, tangled up with the memory of Orchid’s sharp eyes and the way she said obey like it was the simplest thing in the world.
It isn’t simple.
Nothing about this is.
But I’m too damn tired to figure it out tonight.
Tomorrow I’ll try again.
Tomorrow I’ll find a way.
For Enley.
For the team that probably hates me right now.
Even if it means going through the beautiful enforcer currently sharing my bed.